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Cocoa futures surged amid speculation that seasonal wind bringing dry, dusty air into Ivory Coast from the Sahara Desert will cut production. Cocoa for March delivery rose 6.4%, to $2,413 a metric ton, on ICE Futures U.S. on Tuesday.

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Olam International has opened its 70,000-metric-ton cocoa processing plant in the Ivory Coast and expects to operate at full capacity within two months. The plant will process beans into cocoa butter, cocoa liquor and cocoa cake. With a processing capacity of 500,000 metric tons, the Ivory Coast is the top cocoa grower and grinder in the world.

Chocolate companies Barry Callebaut, Mars and Cargill are giving fertilizer to Ivory Coast cocoa farmers. "The idea is that cocoa companies in the future will pre-finance fertilizer for the farmers and the farmers will pay back with cocoa beans, which they can, through their increased yields," said Daan de Wit, spokesman for IDH, the Sustainable Trade Initiative.

Cocoa futures fell to their lowest price since January as traders speculated that rainfall in Ivory Coast, the world's biggest producer, ensures ample supply for the market. On ICE Futures U.S., cocoa futures for May delivery lost 2.8% Wednesday, settling at $2,083 per metric ton. Cocoa prices have declined for six consecutive trading sessions.

An export tax on cocoa from the Ivory Coast won't be higher than 22% of the international price, according to a document from the finance ministry. The International Monetary Fund and World Bank demanded the rate to comply with its debt-relief program for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries.

The U.S. regulatory body for futures markets said soaring commodity prices are not the result of market manipulation. Instead, the high prices of oil, food grains and other commodities are because of reasons including the dollar's falling value, growing demand from developing nations and biofuel mandates, Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Walter Lukken told a congressional panel.